Our Lumberjack

Last week Don called Freddie (local tree cutter) to come over the cut some of the trees that were dead or dying in our yard.  He had decided on 5 that needed cutting down.  Thanks goodness he decided to get someone else to do it.  Two trees were large and in difficult positions to our house and a fence of the neighbors.  He had gotten Freddie's name from the forestry man last year.
Freddie showed up about 30 min. after he got our call and gave Don an estimate of $120 for 5 trees and if he wanted them cut up in manageable pieces another $80. This was a very cheap price and Don said yes, cut'em down.  He was a very small man but very talented and strong in what he does. What would have taken Don several days to do with lots of stress on both our parts only took Freddie about three hours.

He climbs the trees cutting the limbs as he goes up. Then he tops the tree and starts cutting the tree as he goes back down.  He cuts with the chain saw in one hand and pushes the tree the direction that he wants it to fall with the other.  It was very interesting to watch him work.  
We thought Paula and Raymond would enjoy watching so we called for them to come over and watch.  The little gray puppy is Nico.  He is the newest addition to their family.  He is only 3 or 4 months old.  Really cute and feisty.

The forestry guy came by while Freddie was cutting the trees down and he and Don decided to cut another one by the house down $30 and one on our neighbors lot that was really ugly $10. After Freddie cut them down he took off his climbing gear and started cutting up the logs and limbs so they could be managed and carried off. 
Don tried to find someone to clean up the mess but never connected with them so he spent the next three afternoon cleaning up the limbs and stacked up the logs.  Hopefully we will find someone that wants to haul them off for firewood.  The drought had taken a toll on the trees & combined with the beetles, trees are dying all over town. It is also a safety issue with them so close to the house.  I guess that means less pines needles to rake and that is always a good thing. 
Today is Sunday and we took a short hike with Sharon and Dan along Alto Lake.  We also took the dogs. Very pleasant temperatures now and no clouds today. 

Dan hunted several of our caches that we had on this trail and Sharon took care of the dogs.

Also this weekend was the Aspen Motorcycle Rally.  It was so loud and thousands of motorcycles were in town.  It is finally quite again.  I went to the Parade on Saturday morning.

Ruidoso on Dwellable